Clarksburg and Gaithersburg high schools played to a 0-0 tie in a Montgomery County 4A girls’ soccer game on Thursday at Clarksburg.

After a tight first half, the Trojans controlled play for much of the second half. A strong shot from outside by Katie Bol in the 50th minute was pushed wide left, and a breakaway attempt by Melissa Krofcheck bounced just right of the goal in the 74th minute.

“They frustrated us all night, you’ve got to hand it to them for the way they played” Gaithersburg coach Greg Kenel said. “Yes, we are the better-skilled team, we’ve got better one-to-one players, but in the end you have to put the ball in the net and we didn’t do it. It was frustrating. I’m happier with the way we played in the second half, but we still need to put the ball in the goal and it’s disappointing we didn’t do it.”

The Coyotes (4-2-1), who were playing with a shuffled lineup due to a rash of injuries, had a few chances of their own but also failed to capitalize. During the first overtime period, Leah Brown threatened to score the game-winning goal off of a rebound from an Elizabeth Neff shot.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it in with my left foot, so I tried to cut it back,” Brown said. “That [defender] was there, and she just knocked it away.”

Despite the lack of offense, Clarksburg coach Troy Bowers was pleased with his team’s effort in playing to a tie while short handed.

“I have a ton of injuries,” he said. “Big-time starters not playing for me, so that everyone on the team was able to rise up and put us in position to go to overtime tonight was so special. That is the game of soccer sometimes — we defend, we defend, we defend, and we counter and go forward when we can. It’s not always pretty, but I’m proud of these girls because [Gaithersburg is] a tough team to play against.”

With no game scheduled for this weekend, Bowers took the opportunity to give his banged-up squad some rest to keep them fresh as they head into the meat of their schedule.